Hollow
by Kawamjsin
Summary: Bleach/Evangelion crossover. Masks are a barrier we place between reality and ourselves.
1. Chapter 1

Ever since I was little I saw monsters.

They all wore masks, like they were ashamed of themselves, and were hiding away. Like they could put a barrier between themselves and the way they acted.

I wish my Father had worn a mask. Then I'd have known from the start he was one too.

When Mother died, he left me all alone. Alone with the masked monsters. He didn't need me, he said.

He was worse than those monsters ever could be. They didn't pretend to be a father. They were just themselves.

Alone with the Hollows.

-

I found one of their masks, once. When I was older. I'd stopped seeing them with the same frequency as I had when that man left me alone.

I kept it. No one else could see it, but I could feel it on my face. The Hollows knew I was a human, but with the mask on, they treated me as one of their own.

Admittedly, that wasn't much better than that man had. But they didn't pretend to have cared. They didn't abandon you because they didn't need you. You were just another person to them, someone they knew.

I wore that mask alot.

With the Hollows.

-

When the message came, I read it through my mask. No emotion. A Hollow didn't have many emotions. I was empty. No, not empty. That implies I could've had emotions at that point.

Hollow. I felt hollow. I _was_ Hollow.

He needed me again. No, he didn't.

He needed Shinji Ikari. But he wasn't here anymore.

Nothing beyond the mask. Nothing but the mask.

Hollow.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Don't own Bleach or Evangelion.

Unbelievable! Actually wrote a second chapter of something! Surely this is a sign of the coming apocalypse!

The thrill of the hunt. It was unmatched by anything in the human world. To join in the pack in the pursuit of prey.

Shinji Ikari wasn't his name when it was like this. He was a nameless Hollow, dedicated to the coming feat. The prey ran ahead of the ravenous Hollows, little humans who barely understood why monsters chased them. Ikari grinned like only a Hollow could, his jaws creaking as they napped open and shut in anticipation.

Whispers. He could afford the distraction, this hunt being so simple. Left. Up. His eyes hardened at what he saw, but he knew he was one of the few to see this new prey. The soft _ffft, ffft _of a Death God's flash step. Ikari slowed down, letting the other Hollows pass him. One he knew better than the others, called Dragster G, sidled up to him.

**"Eh, you noticed her too, Iraki? That Death God?"** whispered Dragster, his voice rasping out of his shark-shaped mask. **"Heheh. Gratis and Hood got their eye on her as well. You in or out?"**

Ikari grinned. **"You need to ask, G? A meal like that doesn't show up often. I ain't gonna miss out."**

**"It's **_**'I'm not going to miss out'**_**, idiot, not that garbled crap you just said," **snapped Gratis as he joined the pair. **"You're never going to be more than a rube unless you learn to speak better."**

Gratis motioned with his horn. **"M Hood's already gone on ahead. Let's go, children."**

The Death God's name was Hibiki, and she was the 15th seat of 3rd squad. Assigned to this mission by Lieutenant Kira himself, she was to observe the feeding habits of Hollows while remaining hidden herself. From what she'd seen so far, it was pretty horrible. In a large pack like this, they would round up a group of spiritually aware humans and descend upon them en masse, devouring them alive. It was a grisly sight by anyone's standard.

So overcome by her recollections of these events Hibiki almost didn't notice the Hollow behind her until the moment before it attacked. Dodging out of the way, she spun and dragged out her Soul Slayer to face her foe.

She had seen the Hollow before her before. He was one of the stronger members of the Hollow pack. His mask was shaped like a bell, and his body was a massive bulk. A third arm extended out of his back, and talons sprouted from his feet instead of toes. She tightened her grip on her sword.

**"M Hood, isn't it? A Hollow known for its extreme cruelty, and its ability to spew acid from its mouth. If you came after me thinking I would be easy prey, you should've brought friends."**

Hood's laughter filled the air, his body shaking. **"I did, Death God. They will arrive soon. And when they do, I will play with you even as you die." **Crouching down, his jaws opened and acid drained out, dissolving the roof underneath. **"But first, let's start the fun early. I'm most eager to see how long you can stand my acid before screaming."**

He launched himself forward as Hibiki readied herself for his charge. Her blade whipped through the air and deflected his arms, but jumped out of the way as his third crashed down upon the spot where she had stood moments before. Stepping right back into the fight, she sliced it off, and immediately backhanded her Soul Slayer into his side. Hood leapt back and sprayed a cone of acid in her direction.

One flash step got her out of harm's way, but she gritted her teeth in pain as a few stray droplets burned her arm. **"Is that it? Is that all you've got, M Hood?"**

The Hollow grinned back at her. **"It's all I need, seeing you fall into our trap so quickly."**

**"What?!"**

Ikari, Gratis and Dragster G leapt over the Death God's head, Dragster landing on her left, Ikari her right and Gratis in front. All crouching low, the Hollows prepared themselves for the kill.

**"It's been what, five years, since we last tasted Death God meat, hey?" **slavered Dragster, extending his four clawed arms.

**"You mean two, G. I've been counting. I distinctly remember it. From 4th squad wasn't he?" **rasped out Ikari, his blood boiling at the memory.

**"101st seat, or some pathetic number like that. A complete weakling. But damn, did he taste good. Care to introduce yourself to us, Death God?" **said Gratis, straightening up after finding that the crouch was throughly uncomfortable.

Hibiki knew that this was an inescapable situation, but she'd be damned before she went out without a fight. She relaxed, and swung her sword up into an offensive stance. Without emotion, she announced herself.

**"Hibiki Riko, 15th seat of 3rd squad. And the one who will kill you all."**

Ikari had never felt more alive. Even now, faced with death, he felt full, refreshed, excited. The life of a human could never match this. Existence as a Hollow was nothing like the hollow existence of a human.

-

Thousands of miles away, underneath the ground, a man sat, hands interlinked. The file in front of him was years old, outdated. But it had the information he had needed. He reached over and pressed the button on the intercom.

**"Fuyutsuki, call the orphanage. It's time my son came home."**

**"Of course, Commander Ikari."**


	3. Chapter 3

Author Note: I'd love to say this signified a regular update schedule, but we all know the chances of that happening...

Hollow: Part 3

Hibiki tensed, waiting for the hollows to strike. She kept turning, trying to keep all four in view. Would M Hood attack again, injured as he was? What about the others? She tried to remember what she had read in the files about this group.

Firstly, she summoned the memories about Dragster G. As his name implied, Dragster was a racing aficionado. He preferred to prey on racing fan spirits when possible, and only joined the large hunts when desperation and hunger forced him. His special ability was his teeth – like the shark he resembled, he had multiple sets. A single bite from him would leave multiple wounds. He also possessed the ability to launch shockwaves from each of his four arms.

Gratis was the most intelligent. He had a single horn which sprouted from his forehead, and his body was covered in armour made from materialised reiatsu. He was the second-strongest among the group, and his diamond-hard body was famous among hollows in the human world.

Then come the acid-spitting, bell-headed leader of the four, M Hood. This monster always lead the kills, selected the prey whenever the four split from the main pack. It was his idea for them to join together into a mini-pack in the first place. Aside from that bright idea, M Hood was as blunt and direct as any hollow. By himself, he wasn't much of a threat.

And finally, there was the wildcard. A hollow named Iraki. Like Gratis, he was human-shaped, but he had no extra extrusions. His mask was simple and white, and vaguely beak-shaped. He was the most mobile, and unlike the others, disappeared from the Death Gods' hollow radar for days at a time.

"**The hell is she doing, turning round and round? She gonna fight, or are we just going to wait around until she passes out from dizziness?"**

Venting his displeasure, Ikari leant back on the balls of his feet. There wasn't much joy in the hunt if the prey didn't actually _do_ anything. He leaned over to Gratis, and whispered in one of his bullet-hole ears.

"**Unless someone does something, I'm cutting this little shindig short right here, understand?"**

Gratis sighed. Iraki was always a nuisance. Under his breath, he muttered **"**_**Hueco Mundo give me strength."**_ Clapping his hand onto Iraki's shoulder, he announced loudly, **"Everyone, time to stop the waiting game. Disc boy here's getting antsy."**

"**I hate that nickname," **grumbled Ikari.

"**Deal with it," **retorted Gratis, limbering up and stretching his legs. **"It's about time we got to the main event, in any case."**

Hibiki quickly raised her sword, and trailed her fingers down along its length. **"**_**Spin, Twin Homing Knives."**_ With the sharp crack of breaking metal, her sword transformed into two floating blades, which began to spin in midair, with greater and greater speed. She then thrust her bladeless hilt out to her right, and a glimmering beam of sword-shaped energy filled the missing space. She smiled, and assumed her combat stance. **"You don't make 15****th**** seat by filing papers. Time for you all to lose your masks – forever!"**

Her attack was sudden and vicious. The first spinning blade sliced through the air towards Gratis, who blocked with his forearms. His armour proved up to the challenge, reflecting the blade rather than catching it. Balling his fists, he leapt up into the sky, ready to come crashing down at the slightest opening.

The second whirling disc homed in on M Hood, who, wounded as he was, was unable to move quite quickly enough. He squealed in pain as it cut off his left leg, crippling him.

Hibiki herself flash-stepped forward, swinging her sword in a wide arc. It was Dragster's misfortune that he had attempted to bite her in the same moment – he was beheaded and dissipated in one brief moment.

Hibiki then reversed her sword in one deadly movement, the tip of her energy blade reaching for his face. Her first reflected dagger ripped through the air towards him as well.

"**I don't think so!" **roared Gratis, his kick snapping into the whirling sharp metal, and trapping it on the roof of the office building they were fighting on. His head came up, and he smiled his rictus grin.

Hibiki hopped back, her energy weapon in a guard. Ikari laughed, his hollow power having protected him. It was a disc of undulating energy, which cut into the ground in front of him. His left hand straightened out in front of him, his fingers lifting up to the sky. With a quick, brutal movement, he pointed his first two fingers right at Hibiki, and his shield turned into a weapon.

Hibiki dodged as soon as he had completed his motion, but it wasn't soon enough. She cried out in high-pitched pain as her left arm was severed from her body, and her blood fountained into the air. She dropped her weapon as she sunk to her knees, clutching her wounded shoulder.

Ikari stepped forward, while Gratis attended to M Hood, feeding him the Death God's arm. The reiatsu-rich meat helped to rejuvenate his miniscule healing powers. Turning his head, Gratis nodded to Ikari. **"Finish it. He needs more meat to fully recover. Don't worry – we can split the head."**

Licking his lips, Ikari turned back to Hibiki. Swaggering over to her, he stopped, his shadow darkening her face as she looked up. Silhouetted against the light of the moon, he appeared almost owl-like, the only holes in his figure that of the one is his chest, and his two eyes.

"**It's over, Death God. I'll eat your eyes first,"** said Ikari, licking his teeth,"**so your body can properly experience M Hood's hunger without your sight distracting you." **

"_**Raise your Head, Wabisuke."**_


	4. Chapter 4

Author Note: Finished watching Evangelion 1.11. Ideas bloom. I've also just realised I keep ending chapters on cliffhangers. I'll try to avoid it in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Evangelion.

"**Raise your head, Wabisuke."**

Ikari leapt out of the way as the bent sword hissed through the space he'd been occupying moments before. Turning a graceful figure in the air, he landed next to Hood, with Gratis supporting the hulking hollow with his shoulder.

"**Death Gods. I would have warned you, Disc Boy, but you know how these types are. Can't resist shooting their mouths off given the chance."** Said Gratis, turning to face Ikari as he squatted, left hand held palm down to the ground to support his weight.

"**I'd have appreciated a warning, all the same, next time. Think you could manage that?"**

"**Hmmmm… No."**

Ikari cackled as the Vice-Captain of the Death God 3rd Squad and his team members surrounded them. Glancing at Gratis, he nodded, and placed his right hand on top of M Hood's head. The dazed hollow's eyes widened, and he grunted in panic as he feebly tried to paw him off.

"**Jump in 3…" **Gratis nodded in reply. Izuru Kira levelled his sword, and pointed it towards the three. He began to announce their sentence, but the hollows ignored him. Gratis whispered **"2…"** and let go of M Hood, who sagged to the ground.

Ikari raised his left arm, and pointed his finger at the Death Gods, forming a gun with his thumb up. He licked his teeth and shouted **"1-BANG-GO!"**

His energy shield expanded instantly from his body, the power radiating from his hollow hole. Hibiki was unharmed, already lying on the ground, and Kira flash-stepped out of the way. The faceless Death Gods who had accompanied him were not so lucky. Many were cut in half, two decapitated. M Hood was scalped and slain by the field, his body dissolving into black nothingness. Gratis had leapt as Ikari shouted, and then had warped back to Hueco Mondo while in mid-air.

Breaking his shield, Ikari leapt down to the road, and rand down an alleyway. Suppressing his reiatsu, he ducked down a side road. Pausing to catch his breath, he lifted his hands to his mask, and pulled. As always, the mask resisted, peeling away like wet glue, before finally snapping back into shape as a separate entity.

Shinji Ikari held the mask to his chest, whereupon it filled his hollow hole, and transformed him back into a human. He smiled to himself, and, putting his hands in his pockets, began to walk back to his caretaker's house.

"**See you later, meat girl."**

Up on the roof of the hospital, Izuru Kira cursed. Not counting human casualities, he'd lost seven men, and four more had been wounded, not counting Hibiki Riko, the fifteenth seat who'd been assigned to track the hollow hunts in this area. To add to the trouble, only the weakest hollows of this particular four pack had been killed – the brains and power of the group had escaped, and both had dropped off the radar.

"**Hell's bells, Captain Ichimaru will have my arse for this. Tetsuo! Start the clean-up and damage control. And someone contact fourth squad already! We need medics!"** Kira barked orders left and right, while the humans did their own rescue work below.

Down on the ground, ambulances and police cars surrounded the building. Shinji walked over to his caretaker, a young man with short, wild grey hair. His waspish personality had earned him the nickname "Ice" from his students.

Ice frowned as Shinji approached, but he had gotten used to the unspectacular student's night walks. He motioned him into the school van, a rusty old blue paint job. Getting into the van, Ice drove them back to the combination school/boarding house.

It had been a long night, and for now, it was over. Shinji smiled to himself, a toothy grin which threatened to separate his head from his neck. He felt refreshed, alive. It promised to be a bright, exciting sunny day tomorrow. He looked forward to it.


	5. Chapter 5

Hollow: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or Evangelion, yadda yadda yadda.

It was the day after. Ice sat in his office, a drab white-washed room with a wooden desk seemingly made from balsa wood. The only luxurious items in the bland little room were Ice's green leather chair and his desktop computer. Supposedly he kept student records on it, but Ikari could have sworn he only ever saw Ice play Minesweeper on it.

Ice tapped on a few keys as Ikari stood to attention in the office. Ice didn't believe in students having chairs; said that they eroded moral discipline. A few wisemouths had questioned his chair, but he'd simply expelled them. Ice finally finished his game and turned to face Ikari, removing some documents from his desk drawers.

"**Shinji Ikari, do you know what I have here, in my hands?" **he said coldly. Ikari simply shook his head.

"**Seems your dear daddy from long ago wants you back in his arms. You've been transferred to that shiny hole of Japan, Tokyo-3."**

Ikari all but leapt forward, hands slapping the desk and bouncing Ice's keyboard off the desk. **"You're kidding! That bastard left me to rot for what, ten, eleven years? Why the hell should I go?"** Ikari demanded, his voice swelling with anger. Ice glared at him as he carefully put his keyboard back on top of his desk. He crossed his fingers before answering in a menacing voice, and raised a single finger.

"**One, you don't have a choice in the manner. Two," **he raised another finger, **"your education is pretty much a dead end with all your night jaunts. And three – this boarding school is closing soon. Within the week, in fact."**

Ikari stood stock still. **"Wait, what? Since when?"**

"**Since last month, actually. If **_**someone**_** hadn't been sleeping off their nocturnal activities, **_**they'd**_** know about it. You twerp." **Ice glared even harder as he pushed the transfer documents over to Ikari. **"Your travel pass for the trip is here, and your daddy even sent some spending money for the trip. **_**Well**_**, when I say your **_**daddy**_**, I meant your daddy's henchman."**

"**Go on then. I have stuff to do, people to see."** Ice dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

Ikari was numb for several minutes afterwards. It was a bright sunny day, outside the school. Ikari finally noticed the lack of students at the school was due to more than his night-time hunts. He noticed them, in his periphery, but hadn't attached any importance to it. This was the death school, his personal hunting ground.

He let out a long sigh, and pulled his new passport out of his pocket, along with his travel pass. _Good for all Japan, NERV Travel Pass!_ It said. Flipping it over, he read the fine print. _Ayabashi to Tokyo-3 via Karakura only._ Ikari perked up. Every hollow had heard tales of Karakura town, a place so dense with spiritual energy it was a virtual buffet. Sure, it was a death god town, but if you could dodge them, it was a great place to be. Things were looking up.

Ikari whistled Beethoven's _Cello 1_ on his way to the bus stop that would take him to his train. He rubbed his hands excitedly, in anticipation of the coming feast. Death Gods or not, he was going to have _fun_.


End file.
